Tufts ties with Wesleyan, narrowly loses to Trinity to start season

Despite a less-than-ideal 0-1-1 record to start the season, Tufts demonstrated its competitiveness in a 3-2 loss to defending national champion Trinity on Friday and a 1-1 tie with Wesleyan on Saturday.

Against Wesleyan, Tufts notched the first score of the game in the second quarter when junior forward Mike Leary found twine. The goal came at 5:37 in the second period, and juniors forward Patrick Lackey and defenseman Sean Kavanagh assisted.

The Cardinals massively outshot the Jumbos in the third period, 20 to seven. Through the first two periods the Jumbos had 24 shots to the Cardinals' 23, demonstrating the flip in game-flow in the third. Junior forward James Kline evened the game up for the Cardinals 13:53 into the third on an assist from co-captain senior forward Jay Matthews.

In his first-ever start, sophomore goalie Nik Nugnes performed admirably, finishing with 46 saves, including four in overtime. Nugnes replaced junior Mason Pulde who started for Tufts against Trinity. Junior goalie Dawson Sprigings finished with 32 total stops for the Cardinals.

The game featured a great deal of back and forth play with minimal penalties. Despite playing into overtime, there were only three penalties called the entire game: two on Wesleyan and one on Tufts.

The day before, the Jumbos took on the Bantams. The last time Tufts and Trinity faced off, Tufts earned a 2-1 victory and advanced to the semifinals of last year's NESCAC tournament. Out for revenge, the Bantams took advantage of power plays and strong goaltending to outlast the Jumbos.

The shots on goal spread was entirely one-sided in Trinity's favor. The Bantams launched 39 shots to the Jumbos' 19. In the first period, Tufts gifted Trinity three power plays on penalties against first-year forward Clay Berger, sophomore defenseman Zack MacQueen and Leary. However, none of the Bantams' 11 shots on goal slipped by Pulde.

In the second period, the refs called Kavanagh for boarding, and the Bantams converted just 1:45 into the period to take a 1-0 lead. Junior forward Ethan Holdaway ripped the puck into the net off assists from junior forward Ryan Cole and junior defenseman T.J. Sherman.

The Jumbos answered back when sophomore forward Bradley Buvinow took a seat in the box for tripping. With just 35 seconds remaining in the period, junior forward Matt Pugh's slap-shot slipped past senior tri-captain goalie Nathaniel Heilbron to tie the game at one apiece. Senior co-captain Brian Ouellette and sophomore forward Oliver Takacsi-Nagy assisted on the power play.

Seizing an opportunity to lead going into the third period, sophomore forward Tyler Whitney broke away and had a clear path to the goal with nine seconds left in the second period. MacQueen tried to stop Whitney but ended up getting called for interference, leading to a penalty shot that Whitney buried in the net.

Down 2-1, Tufts desperately needed an equalizer in the third period. First-year defenseman Ryan Wolter earned roughing and game misconduct penalties, dooming the Jumbos to 15 minutes of shorthanded play, but first-year forward David Lackner stole the puck and flipped a shot in over Heilbron's right shoulder for a shorthanded goal to tie the score 2-2. 

Lackner's heroics offered the Jumbos hope, but it turned out to be short-lived. Junior tri-captain defenseman Samuel Johnson received the puck and launched a slap-shot that narrowly avoided a number of players crashing the net, as well as Pulde's attempts to deflect it. Junior forwards Sean Orlando and Holdaway assisted.

Despite three more power-play opportunities, the Jumbos could not convert and fell 3-2 to the Bantams. Today, Tufts travels to Worcester, Mass. to take on Becker College before heading up to Castleton, Vt. for the Castleton State Tournament on Nov. 27 and Nov. 28.